By Asaye Bankole
At least five miners have died following separate mine accidents in Turkey, with three additional bodies recovered on Friday from a collapsed mine in the western part of the country, authorities said.
The first incident occurred on Thursday in the Soma district of Manisa Province, about 100 kilometres northeast of the coastal city of Izmir.
Seven workers were reportedly inside the mine when part of the facility collapsed.
According to the Manisa Governor’s Office, rescue teams worked through the night to locate three miners who remained trapped underground.
“Search and rescue operations carried out after the mine collapse in Soma district have ended and the bodies of the three mine workers who were trapped have been recovered,” the governor’s office said in a statement posted on X on Friday.
Two other miners had earlier been found dead at the scene, while two workers were rescued and taken to hospital for medical treatment.
The recovery of the three trapped workers brought the death toll from the Soma accident to five.
Justice Minister Akin Gürlek has ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collapse.
Turkish media reports said nine company executives, including the manager of the company operating the mine, were detained on suspicion of negligence.
A union official, speaking anonymously, said the mine’s coal production had been declining as existing sections became increasingly exhausted.
He explained that a new section of the mine was being developed but had not yet become operational.
According to the official, financial difficulties within the company were reportedly creating pressure to accelerate the development work.
In a separate incident on Friday, another miner was killed when an unlicensed mine collapsed in Kilimli, a town on Turkey’s northwestern Black Sea coast, according to local media reports.
The latest accidents have once again drawn attention to safety conditions in Turkey’s mining sector, particularly at sites where regulatory oversight and working conditions have been questioned.
Soma has a painful history of mining disasters. In 2014, the district witnessed Turkey’s deadliest mining accident when 301 workers died from carbon monoxide poisoning after an underground fire triggered by an explosion.
Authorities are expected to continue investigating the latest incidents to determine whether safety regulations were followed and whether any individuals or companies should be held responsible.
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